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Politician Bernard Tapie spotted wearing Rolex

Bernard Tapie, the French entrepreneur, former politician, and owner of Olympique de Marseille during its 1993 Champions League-winning era, was photographed wearing a Rolex Cosmograph Daytona in stainless steel on an Oyster bracelet with a clean white dial. The sighting is entirely consistent with the man's image: classically powerful, never flashy, yet unmistakably expensive.

The watch is almost certainly the reference 116520, produced from 2000 until its discontinuation in 2016. It was the first Daytona to house Rolex's entirely proprietary Cal. 4130 chronograph movement — a column-wheel, vertical-clutch calibre with a 72-hour power reserve and a remarkably direct, crisp pusher action. Its development marked Rolex's decisive break from the Zenith-supplied El Primero used in earlier references, and collectors immediately recognised the significance. The white dial variant, with its contrast sub-registers at 3, 6, and 9 o'clock and the signature tachymetric bezel in stainless steel, is the most legible and arguably the most timeless configuration in the range.

The 116520 has become one of the most studied references in modern horology. Production ended in 2016 when the 116500LN — featuring a ceramic bezel — replaced it, which paradoxically elevated the 116520's desirability as the last steel-bezel Daytona. White-dial steel examples in unworn condition now regularly trade well above their original retail on the secondary market, particularly with box and papers.

Tapie, who died in October 2021, was a figure of extraordinary contradictions: a businessman who bought Adidas, a politician who served as a minister under Mitterrand, a cancer survivor who gave candid televised interviews late in life. His choice of a Rolex Daytona — utilitarian in design philosophy, exceptional in mechanical execution — reflected the same duality. No diamonds, no complications beyond the chronograph, just the right watch worn by someone who understood its weight.

On today's grey market, a clean ref. 116520 with white dial commands significant premiums, reflecting both the reference's closed production status and its irreplaceable place in Rolex history.